In many instances today, broadcasters and advertisers attempt to tie television programming and commercials to related sites on the World Wide Web (“Web”). It is becoming quite common to see, superimposed somewhere on the television screen, a banner or label identifying the Uniform Resource Locator (URL) for a Web site that can provide information supplementing the program information being displayed on the screen. It is also increasingly common for advertisers to display the URL for their Web site in their commercial. The broadcasters and advertisers hope to attract viewers to their Web sites for marketing purposes as well as to provide viewers with information more detailed than that provided during a television program or commercial.
A disadvantage to banners and the like is that they can be somewhat disruptive to viewers, blocking aspects of the program being viewed and diverting the user's attention from the program itself. In addition, banners and the like are of limited effectiveness because they place the burden of accessing the Web site on the viewer. The viewer must first make note of the URL being displayed, and then must manually enter the URL into an Internet-connected device (e.g., a computer system) in order to reach the Web site. Because of this inconvenience, many viewers will not follow through and access the promoted Web site, reducing the size of the audience that broadcasters and advertisers had hoped to reach via the Internet. The audience is further reduced by the number of viewers who are not comfortable with accessing and navigating the Internet, and who will probably not attempt to access the Web site because of the perceived difficulty in doing so.
Another problem with the prior art is that multiple URLs cannot readily be provided during the program or commercial, although there may be multiple Web sites relevant to the ongoing program or commercial that might be of interest. The display of multiple URLs would further clutter the screen, and viewers would typically not be able to make note of more than a couple of URLs at a time anyway. Accordingly, only a single URL is typically displayed, limiting viewer access to supplementary information of relevance or likely interest.
Furthermore, the URLs displayed during programs and commercials cannot be tailored for different viewers; that is, all viewers see the same URL. Thus, even if one viewer is interested in one aspect of a program while another viewer has different interests, both viewers will be directed to the same Web site.
Some products currently available, referred to in general as interactive television or Web television, attempt to make it easier to access information on the Web, but these products still have some shortcomings. Typically, these products function using some type of menu or pop-up window that appears on the television screen, obscuring aspects of the television display and distracting viewers. In addition, in order to display the Web-based information, these products typically use a split-screen or picture-in-picture type of format. Thus, instead of seeing a full-size image, viewers must contend with smaller images, reducing the quality of the display and diminishing the viewing experience. Moreover, one viewer may want to see one Web site and another viewer a different Web site; however, only one site can be viewed at a time. Thus, in addition to agreeing on which television program is to be watched, viewers must also agree on which Web site is to be viewed.
Accordingly, what is needed is a method and/or system that can more conveniently direct viewers to Web sites that pertain to what is being viewed on television. What is also needed is a method and/or system that can satisfy the above need and that can identify multiple Web sites that may be of interest. In addition, what is needed is a method and/or system that can satisfy the above needs and that can identify Web sites according to the likely interests of different viewers. Furthermore, what is needed is a method and/or system that can satisfy the above needs and that can display Web-based information, and that can allow individual viewers to view the Web-based information that is of particular interest of them, without distracting or inconveniencing other viewers. The present invention provides a novel solution to the above needs.
These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art after having read the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments which are illustrated in the various drawing figures.